EU programme gives financial support to Gaza mental health assistance, no need for Israeli mental health assistance.

EU programme gives financial support to Gaza mental health assistance, no need for Israeli mental health assistance.(AM).A new EU grant of nearly 600,000 designed to improve the training of medical staff and local communities in Gaza is being launched involving the International Medical Corps and four Palestinian organizations. According to the Enpi website (www.enpi-info.eu), the 'Self Help - Self Heal' programme has been designed to target populations living under prolonged conflict conditions and will empower people in Gaza to take care of their own individual and family mental health needs. The programme will reach more than 2,300 people through community centres in the Gaza Strip and more than 230 health professionals will receive training.

''Thanks to this new grant we will be able to promote more effective methods to deal with severe emotional and mental distress within the population in Gaza,'' said the EU Representative John Gatt-Rutter.

Research has shown that living conditions in Gaza - such as restricted movement, reduced access to education and health care, poverty and unemployment - can create stress and feelings of isolation and ultimately impact on the level of mental disorders within the population there. According to the UN, psychological trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in the Gaza Strip has dramatically risen following the escalation of violence last November. By training parents and caregivers and setting up peer support groups, the EU and International Medical Corps will help families to manage the mental health consequences of life in the Gaza Strip.Hmmmm.......Read the full story here.

Rocket hits in Israel since the Hamas takeover of Gaza, 2006